One last look: these canned beers are getting new names (Eric Gorski, The Denver Post)

At the advice of a lawyer, recently opened Odyssey Beerwerks[1] in Arvada has changed the names of four of its beers – including two already in cans – because they bear similarities to trademarked products already on the market.

The move is not a response to any objections from other breweries, said Chris Hill, co-owner of the brewery that opened in May[2]. He said Odyssey just wants to play it safe.

“I like a good argument as much as anybody,” Hill said. “It’s not in my nature to say, ‘Fine, we’ll change.’ But it’s easier to do now than six months from now. We thought, ‘Let’s change before we order 60,000 cans.’”

Two of the beers in question – Helios Hefeweizen and Ghost Rider Pale Ale – have been available in cans for the past couple of months. The brewery changed the former to Heliocentric Hefeweizen and the latter to Ghost Drifter Pale Ale. Odyssey Beerwerks will be able to keep the same packaging design, so it’s not a total start-over-from scratch, Hill said.

Odyssey’s preemptive strike is the latest episode in what is becoming a familiar tale of woe as brewers struggle to come up with original names for their breweries and beers as the industry grows tremendously.

Chris Hill (Eric Gorski, The Denver Post)

Other Colorado breweries have scrapped beer names under threat of litigation, including Denver’s Renegade Brewing[3], which changed the name of its rye ale after getting a cease-and-desist letter from an attorney representing Six Point Brewery in New York.

“A lot of breweries are going to end up running into the same kind of thing,” Hill said. “We try to brainstorm and come up with names and geez, every name you come up with is somewhat derivative of something someone else is using.”

Hill said a lawyer who is a friend of the brewery counseled Odyssey to trademark its beer names as it began packaging. Then the lawyer found some of Odyssey’s names to be too close to other trademarked names in the wine and beer industry.

One of the nation’s big-name craft breweries, Pennsylvania-based Victory Brewing[4] Company, registered a federal trademark in July for Helios Ale. At least a couple of breweries offer beers bearing the name Ghost Rider – the Utah Brewers Cooperative (aka Wasatch Brew Pub[5] and Squatters Pub[6] Brewery) and Palmetto Brewing Company[7] of Charleston, S.C.

There are no fewer than ten registered trademarks on the “Ghost Rider” term or some variation, though it appears none involve alcohol. Nevertheless, Hill said he didn’t relish a fight with one of the trademark holders: Marvel Characters Inc.

Were the Odyssey Beerwerks names too close to either to invite problems? There just wasn’t reason to risk it, Hill said.

Soon-to-be collectors items (Eric Gorski, The Denver Post)

Two other beers got new names. Odyssey was not alone in naming a Scotch ale Caber Tosser; it was previously taken by breweries including California-based Elevation 66 Brewery[8] and Elliott Bay Brewing[9] Co. of Seattle. So Odyssey’s is now Warrior Clan.

Then there’s Nebula, Odyssey’s Belgian black double IPA. It’s now Perpetual Darkness. Although the term has been adopted by other breweries (including Corvallis, Oregon’s Block 15), the concern was not over a beer but wines under that name, Hill said. The lawyer advised that wineries, too, are getting territorial about breweries taking names.

“The bottom line is, an ounce of prevention is probably worth a pound of cure,” Hill said. “If we find names we can go ahead and trademark we don’t have to worry about it. There is no sense getting our feathers ruffled.”